Hi Tweets,

I was birding the Point Edwards Public Path with Dennis Duffy this
morning. We saw nothing unusual. As we were walking back down the
hill to our cars, which were parked just outside the gate of the
Willow Creek Hatchery (SR 104, Edmonds Way, just before the ferry
holding area on the south side of Edmonds Marsh), I was prodding
Dennis to recount some of the great rarities he has found in
Snohomish County (Steller's Eider, White-Faced Ibis, Tropical
Kingbird). As we were chatting by our cars at 10:30 a.m., a flock of
Pine Siskins flew into the five large snags just to the left of the
Hatchery entrance. Dennis, as is his wont, immediately raised his
binoculars and scanned the flock. I heard a "Wow, there's a Western
Flycatcher. No, I mean Pac Slope. No. Wait a minute. It's too
large. It's no Empid. Look at that bill." Okay, it was time to raise
my binoculars and see what he was looking at. It was definitely no
Empid. It was at least several inches larger than Empids. It had a
pointed crest on its head. The bill was very long. The lower
mandible was bright orange, from base to tip. It had two wing bars
that looked white rather than the buff color of a juvenile and the
flanks were a light wash of olive green. We watched it for about
five minutes in several different trees. I'd estimate that it stayed
at a height of about 25-30 feet. At one point, Dennis heard its pip-
pip call. It then flew away to the southwest, probably into
Woodway. I don't know why I left my camera at home this morning. I
don't think my brain was functioning well given that the light was
actually good for photos. I went home for my camera, called Ted
Peterson, and asked him to join me for further searching. We spent
another 45 minutes down around the Hatchery and the sidewalk along
the Point Edwards complex. I played the call on my iPod. We could
not relocate the bird. We will continue to monitor it this
afternoon. Ted will be on the lookout tomorrow morning. It might
end up being a five-minute wonder. But it also might be relocated in
the Richmond Beach area if it was heading on a course of no return to
Edmonds.

This flycatcher could be distinguished from Olive-sided in that the
flanks were not streaked, it had noticeable wing bars, the crest was
quite pointy, and the entire lower mandible was orange.

Carol Riddell
Edmonds